News & Updates

Pupils bring #Wildbottlesighting Campaign to Parliament

Together with the Marine Conservation Society, we brought eight pupils from Our Lady’s Primary to the Scottish Parliament to talk to decision-makers about the Wild Bottle Sighting initiative. Reporting #wildbotlesightings is, a campaign that maps littered plastic bottles to highlight the need for a UK-wide Deposit Return System.

Deposits and beyond: what next for plastic waste?

April 17th, 2018

While we continue to celebrate the Scottish Government’s 2017 decision to introduce a deposit return system and make contributions to the design process, we are also thinking about the next steps for tackling plastic waste. This article by James Mackenzie, our Political and Media Consultant, discusses some of these ideas.

Our vision of a deposit return system for Scotland

March 21st, 2018

Since the First Minister announced in September 2017 that there would be a Scottish deposit return system for empty drinks containers, Zero Waste Scotland have been working on the design for that system.

We’ve been running our campaign for deposit return since 2015, and have continued to take part in discussions since the decision was taken. With that in mind, we have worked with our partner organisations to draw up a series of proposals for what that Scottish system might look like, and you can read it here.

We’re Hiring!

March 5th, 2018

We’re looking for someone to work with us full time for two weeks in April, on an exciting project at Edinburgh Zoo.

Zero Waste Scotland’s January update

February 26th, 2018

Zero Waste Scotland have sent the first in a series of newsletters about their deposit return system design process. Interested stakeholders can find out here how to engage with them as they work towards answers to the detailed questions involved in designing the best system in the world!

What’s so good about deposit return in Norway?

February 26th, 2018

Norway’s deposit return system has one of the highest collection rates in the world, and there are many parts of it that we’d like to see featured in the Scottish system design. These articles help to explain why.

The History of the Have You Got The Bottle? campaign

English MPs recommend consultation on deposit return system

December 22nd, 2017

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee say that people should pay a deposit for using plastic bottles in an attempt to protect the seas from the “devastating effects” of plastic pollution. This is an encouraging development which indicates that England may follow Scotland’s lead in the introduction of a deposit return system.